Poker Face
by SynesthesiaAddict
Summary: When Patty returns after eight years, things get ... interesting as Dante detectives his way into a strange plot.  Dante/ legal Patty. Rated M
1. Aces High

_Welp, just got finished drooling over DMC the anime, so I had to write a fic about it hahaha. Based on the anime and DMC1-2 only, I haven't played the other games and I wanted to keep it cannon(ish). Dante/(legal)Patty (who didn't see it coming, come on?) Enjoi!_

Poker Face

Chapter One

Aces High

"Three of a kind." Dante spread his hand to show three queens. "Pay up."

"Dante, you always were bad at gambling..." Morrison sighed. "Royal Flush."

Dante's expression sobered as Morrison took all his chips. "Fuck. You're worse than Lady. One more hand."

Morrison chuckled. "Do you really want to deepen your debt? At this rate you'll never get out..."

"Come on, old man, deal the cards."

Morrison shook his head. "Sorry Dante. Got another client to meet with. You know, if you came with me to these things you might have a bit more say over which jobs come your way."

"Pass." Dante threw himself back on his couch and had the magazine over his face in seconds flat. "Just order me a pizza and call it even."

"Call what even? Bah! Why do I bother..." Morrison put on his hat and pulled on his coat. "Don't burn the place down."

"Whatever."

Dante debated whether or not he was inclined to get up to put some music on and decided he wasn't. He ignored the phone twice and was just dozing off when the door opened. He cursed himself for not locking it. "Piss off, we're closed," he announced, not removing the magazine from his face.

"You haven't changed at all, Dante."

He peeked out from behind the Playboy over his face and didn't recognize the person strait off. So he sat up and scratched his head. "Do I know you, Miss?"

The blond laughed warmly. "I should hope so. I may have grown up, but you haven't aged a day. And it shows." She nudged an empty pizza box and sighed. "I'm surprised you don't have personal housekeeping. Or are you still up to your eyeballs in debt so you can't afford it?"

The woman was attractive, that was for sure. Her hair was long and blond, and the business suit she was wearing accented a wonderful, curvacious figure. Those blue eyes had a ghost of familiarity about them, however. "You're not ringing a bell, hon, sorry."

She laughed again. "Come on, I'll treat you to a strawberry sundae."

"... … Patty?"

"Took you long enough!"

Dante smiled and stretched. "Well, well. You've gotten yourself all grown up now haven't you?"

"More than I can say for you."

"Nagging, as usual..."

"Come on, I said I'd buy you a sundae, or have you grown out of them?"

"Not a chance." Dante rose and grabbed his coat and guitar case.

At Freddi's Restaurant, the waitresses had changed since Patty had last been in town, but the owner hadn't, and had the sundae ready almost before they sat down. "So what have you been up to?" she asked as they sat.

"What I'm always up to," Dante chuckled. "Saved the world a few times in the past eight years, yourself?"

"Business abroad. My mother took me out of the country after this place was trashed by Abigail. It's recovered nicely, by the way."

"Not like I had anything to do with it."

"Just saved it, right?"

"That was a long time ago."

Patty smiled. "I never asked. Why such a sweet tooth? All you eat is junk, is it all that demon-slaying that keeps you in shape?"

"Ah, Demons have this need for carbs, and lots of them," Dante replied through the spoon with a wink.

Patty wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

"So is there a reason you've tracked me down? I don't suppose it's just a friendly 'hello' after eight years."

Patty lost her smile. "No. It's not just a hello."

"Didn't think so."

She glanced over her shoulder. "Dante … I'm in trouble." He leaned back, but had that attentive look in his eye, as if to say _Go on..._ "I'm being followed."

"Not your average stalkers?"

"... No. It's pretty obvious that their from the Underworld."

"Any idea who they are?"

"No. And I don't know what they want. It's not the Tear either, I tried to get rid of it and they still follow me."

"So what, you need a bodyguard?"

"Well sort of, but you know it's more than that."

"Ah man, I have to figure this stuff out too?"

"That's what you're good at, right?"

"Goddammit..."

"What?"

"You know I have to charge you, right?"

"As if I could put a dent in your debt..."

"Well Patty, I work for money you know, not rainbows and farts."

Patty sighed. "I know... how much do you want?"

"Five thousand. And I'm being nice, you know..."

"Done."

Dante's eyebrows rose as she pulled out a very posh looking checkbook from a very posh looking purse. His cold blue eyes followed her hand as it wrote out a check for five thousand dollars and signed it, then ripped it out of the book to hand it to him. "Not married, I see."

Patty blinked. "Wha... What's it matter?"

"No ring. And if you're dropping this kind of cash, I'll bet your all sorts of out of league for any boyfriends that might come your way."

Patty blushed. "Well I haven't had time for that sort of thing! Mind your own business, Dante!"

"No can do. Gotta know everything about you for the past decade or so. Business, you see..."

She whapped him upside the head with her check book. "Pervert!"

"What? How does that make me a pervert! It's just an observation!"

"To be honest, I'm afraid to drag anyone into this..." Patty said sadly. "I feel like my mother..."

"How is she?"

"Dead."

"Ow."

"Yeah."

"How?"

"Cancer."

"Ow."

"Yeah."

"Tell me more about how you've been."

"Went to private school for a while, started my own business – "

"In what?"

"Antiques."

Dante laughed. "You're just asking for trouble!"

"Call me a masochist then," Patty said with a sad smile. "But the shops have nothing to do with my being followed. I've combed through each location for something – anything – that would provoke something like this. I haven't found anything like that."

"When did this start?" Dante asked.

"A few months ago. I can't really think of any correlation – "

"You turned eighteen."

Patty paused. "Yes, but what does my age have to do with –?"

"You are an official adult now. Did your mother have any of these... _stalkers?"_

"She died _four_ years ago."

"Answer the question."

Patty thought. "If she did, she hid it well. I can't think of any time that she's had to deal with the Underworld since Abigail. But if they were following her before and are now following me, wouldn't it have started when she died?"

"Keep in mind that demons aren't all just bloodthirsty killers. Well, I can't think of more than a few exceptions, but hear me out. Legality plays a big part in this. Whoever is having you watched knows the mortal legal game. Your mother left you something, and they don't want you to have it."

"Your instinct is incredible," Patty said simply. "I never would have guessed. Wouldn't I have been contacted by now if my mother had something for me?"

"Not if the string-puller has anything to say about it..."

Patty was quiet. Dante rose to leave. "Where are you going?"

"I'm taking you back to where you're staying. I'm your bodyguard now, aren't I?"

Patty simply nodded and followed him out.

"Hey!" the owner called.

"Put it on my tab!" Dante called.

"Oh for the love of...!" Patty sighed. She paid his bill and huffed after him, shaking her head.

No, Dante hadn't changed at all...


	2. The River Bluff

Poker Face

Chapter Two

The River Bluff

The hotel was posh too.

Dante had only ever gambled at the place once or twice, but couldn't stay because he'd called a close loss. He whistled as she opened the door to her suite. "Nice."

"What?"

"Not bad for an orphan girl."

"Oh please, don't jab at my financial might. It means nothing unless we can get this figured out..." Patty sighed.

Dante put his leg up on the jacuzzi and kicked the mat off. "These come standard?"

"Pft."

"No, really, because I'm so soaking in this thing."

"You don't strike me as a hot tub kind of guy."

"You don't strike me as a posh kind of girl."

"That' the third time you've called me that in the past half hour!"

"Get used to it, Posh."

"I'm not a has-been Spice Girl! What are you doing?"

"I think better when I'm relaxed."

"Seriously?" Patty asked dubiously as Dante leaned his guitar case against the tub, hung his gun-heavy coat against it and started to strip. "Modesty, Dante!"

"If it bothers you so bad, then look the other way," he leered.

With a blush, Patty turned to her laptop on the desk and played it off like annoyance. It _didn't_ bother her so bad, that was the problem. In all of her memories of the man, it had never occurred to her that he was actually very attractive. She'd seen him been impaled, shot, wipe out on a bike and even torn to pieces, and yet not a single scar crossed his perfect, pale skin. She couldn't make eye contact with those icy eyes, even though they scanned her reaction playfully, but with scrutiny.

"You a virgin?"

"DANTE!"

"What? I'm just asking!"

"It's none of your business!"

"Actually, it's relevant, so yes it is my business."

"How is that relevant?"

"Ever hear of virgin sacrifice?"

"Yeah, in horror movies."

Dante chuckled as he leaned back in the tub. "Regular thing in the Underworld. Especially when waking up bigger daddies, you know?"

"No I don't particularly know, that's why I hired you," Patty told him curtly.

"Don't be a bitch just because you're all grown now and you have the right," Dante laughed lowly. "I want to do an experiment. Get in the tub with me."

"EXCUSE ME?"

Dante glanced over to the mirror on the far wall. "How many mirrors are in here?"

"What the hell are you talking about? First, you ask inappropriate questions. Then you tease me, sexually harass me and now you want to know how many mirrors this place has. Are you out of your mind?"

"Just answer the question."

"I don't know, I didn't check."

"That's alright, I'm guessing the one in full view anyway. Get in."

"No!"

"Why not?"

Patty rolled the desk chair out and finally made eye contact. "BeCAUSE, Dante! Yes, I am a virgin! No, I don't think that's appropriate! So I'm not getting in a goddamned tub with you until I know exactly why!"

"Do I have to explain it?"

"Yes."

"Damn." _Was he joking? He had to be joking. _"If this has anything to do with sacrificing you as a virgin – and as Allan Lowell's descendant as well as the holder of the Tear, you would pack quite a wallop – the minute you get in here and risk losing said virginity, something is going to pop out of that mirror."

"Why the mirror?" Patty asked.

"Mirrors are reflections into worlds unseen," he replied cryptically. "Get in."

Patty was quiet for a moment. "This still makes no sense."

"I'm sure it'll piece itself together eventually," Dante said casually. Patty would swear he was just putting off that air to see her naked if things didn't usually _piece itself together eventually_ with him. From what she remembered of him, he _did_ have a sexual streak, though at ten she had thought it disgusting and perverted. Of course she did back then. She was ten.

And now that she was an adult, she was painfully aware that he hadn't changed at all. "I … I didn't bring a bathing suit," she said pathetically.

Dante threw back his head and laughed. "That would defeat the purpose, Posh!"

"Stop calling me that!"

"Whatever you say, Posh. For the third time: _get in."_

Patty sat with her hands firmly in her lap for another moment before she rose. "No peeking."

Dante rolled his eyes with a small smile. "Fine. Suit yourself," he told her, moving to sit with his back to her. He leaned his head to the side when he thought she wasn't looking and received a finger in his cheek, shoving his face back.

"NO PEEKING."

"Alright, alright!"

"... now close your eyes."

"Oh come on, now you're being childish."

"I said close your eyes!"

Dante sighed and closed his eyes, feeling the water disturbance as she eased herself into the hot and bubbling water. He didn't need to see in order to feel her tensely sit across from him. "Come on, make it look good. C'mere."

"This is degrading."

"You like it and you know it."

He could feel her blush without even looking. She was sliding next to him and placing her hands on his chest. He felt a chill run through his body – Patty was most certainly a woman now, and he didn't need eyes to tell him that. Just the feel of her soft body against his was lighting a small fire inside of him, and entertaining the thought of taking dear Patty was amusing to him. But this was for show. This was to provoke a reaction. And he was rarely wrong.

Without thinking he ran his fingers along her side, feeling the curve of her body. He felt goosebumps sprout on her skin and a little moan escaped her when he reached her hips. Dante resisted the urge to tease and continued to explore her body with his eyes closed, memorizing every detail of her skin.

Dante sensed it.

He put his arms behind his head as she quivered into his chest, breathing into his neck nervously. She was just about to ask when he would be disproven when she felt his muscles tense. Dante had reached into his coat and now was pointing Ebony and Ivory over her shoulders in one fluid movement.

"Jig's up," he said with a smirk, licking his lips and opening his sharp eyes in anticipation.

A demon was leering over them, poised to attack.

Dante unloaded into the thing, provoking a startled yelp from Patty. She covered her ears from the deafening noise as bits of demon and blood showered her back. Dante moved like liquid steel, standing on the edge of the tub with his sword drawn, a vision of might. Every muscle on him was hard as iron, including the erection, hard with Patty's touch and battle lust.

The demon charged again and had his head severed in a single blow. Patty was slopped with more blood. It took her a full minute of silence before she was aware that Dante was talking to her.

"Patty, are you alright?" he asked, offering a hand to pull her out of the bloody water.

It was all she could do to sob into his chest, shaking and naked, terrified and relieved.

Dante had been right.


	3. Three of a Kind

Poker Face

Chapter Three

Three of a Kind

Dante shoved his hands guiltily into his pockets as they exited the emergency room, letting Patty lean on him for balance. Bloody cotton balls were packed into her left ear from the ruptured ear drum, and he actually felt kind of shitty for firing his guns so close to her frail head.

She was only human after all...

"Sorry about that," he said dryly, not very good at sincerity.

"Yeah, I'll bet you are," she grumbled, looking down at her script for perkasets. "I can't believe they don't do anything for this sort of thing."

"Wounds take time to heal, Posh. What are they gonna do, stitch your ear together?"

"Stop calling me that, I'm not deaf you know."

"You should be after that. You're still a trooper, though..."

"Stop treating me like I'm ten."

"It's the last time I saw you, cut me a break."

_I'll bet you wouldn't have said that a few hours ago..._ she thought as she pulled out her cell phone to call a taxi. Instead she said, "So. You were right. They want me all pure and such."

"Trust me, I'm not happy that I'm right," Dante said quietly. "Don't bother with the cab."

"Why not?"

An engine revved and a motorcycle pulled up in front of them, a helmeted biker in a tight, red outfit at the wheel. She kicked the kickstand out and removed her helmet with a smile.

"Lady!" Patty exclaimed happily.

"Well, look whose talking," Lady told her with a smirk. "So, Dante, am I putting this on your tab?"

"Yeah. Make sure she doesn't get eaten, would you?"

"Wait, where are you going?" Patty asked Dante.

"Research," he replied in that cryptic manner with that small, evil smile of his.

Lady tossed Patty another helmet. "Hop on."

Patty mounted the bike awkwardly after donning the helmet and looked to Dante. "Call me as soon as you find something out," she told him.

"Yeah," was all he said as Lady revved again and took off.

"Where are we going?" Patty shouted over the roar of her engine as Lady missed the turn to her hotel.

"To meet a friend," she replied, turning onto the highway.

Lady pulled up to a clothing boutique and parked. She only smiled at Patty's inquisitive look as she accepted her helmet and put it away on the side bag of her bike. They walked in and were greeted by a fat woman who couldn't fit into anything she sold. Lady largely ignored her and seemed to be looking over the racks for someone. At last she waved and met up with a very tall blond woman with long hair and intense blue eyes.

"Trish."

"Lady."

"Dante got a catch."

"Do I know this person?" Trish asked, squinting at Patty.

"You were Dante's old partner, right?" Patty asked.

"Ah, you were Dante's shadow a while back, weren't you?"

"Seems some demons are on her tail, Dante told me everything," Lady said to Trish.

"E... Everything?" Patty asked, feeling her face get hot.

Trish chuckled. "Oh honey, don't get involved with him. He may be a good lay, but his maturity level is atrocious."

"Seconded," Lady agreed.

"I'm not!" Patty said defensively.

"Sure," Lady said with a smirk. "Whatever you say. I wanted to know if her recent run ins have anything to do with Lowell."

Trish thought. "Unlikely. Abigail was defeated. Though it wouldn't strike me as odd if Lowell had more than one seal on more than one demon."

"Hmmm..." was all Lady said.

"Her mother left her something that someone is preventing her from receiving," Lady explained. "And they need Patty alive and … _pure."_

Trish almost snorted, then just smiled. "Poor Dante..."

"I know, right? She's grown quite pretty and likes to pick up after him..."

"Hey!" Patty protested. "I'm not interested in a guy like him! I only came for his help because I know he can get this taken care of!"

The other women exchanged a look and started to laugh.

"I'm serious! This is serious! Take me seriously, dammit!"

"We are, we promise," Lady assured. "Forgive us if we find the situation a little comical..."

"What's that?" Trish asked sharply, looking at Patty's chest and mirth lost.

"What?" Patty asked.

Lady reached over and unbuttoned Patty's top button to reveal a black seal on her chest. "How long has that been there?"

"Oh my god," Patty breathed. "This wasn't here a few hours ago..."

Trish looked grim. "I know that seal. It's one of twelve."

"Do tell," Lady asked.

"It's … one of Mundus'."

"Mundus?" Patty and Lady asked.

Trish didn't reply, only continued to frown.

"Maybe we should talk in a more secluded area..." Lady said quietly, motioning for them to leave.

"Why did this suddenly appear now?" Patty wondered out loud as they made their way back out to Lady's bike.

"Bleed there lately?" Trish asked dryly.

"No, I – " Patty fell silent. "But … it wasn't my blood."

"Doesn't have to be," she told her. "Where's Dante?"

"Fucked if I know," Lady said with a shrug. "I'm supposed to babysit until he gets back to Patty's suite."

"Call him. We have a problem."

"So you're telling me you can't dig up more than an obituary?" Dante sighed into his cellphone.

"Sorry, Dante, this stuff is tight," Morrison apologized.

"Why don't you try more than just Googling it, dumbass."

"Give me a little more credit than that," Morrison chuckled. "Hold on a second... it says here that Patty already claimed her inheritance."

"We've got a shape changer with access to illegal identification," Dante mused, stopping in front of the address he had gotten from Morrison. "Not interested in money, or Patty would be broke. You sure this is the right address?"

"56 Fernway Park Circle."

"What a shit hole."

"Hey, you asked for the closest antique shop to you..."

"Every one of these things has _something_ linked to the Underworld."

"You're grasping at straws, Dante."

"No, I'm following a hunch."

"Whatever you say."

"Later."

Dante hung up on him and walked into the dusty place, ringing a bell as he did so. No one greeted him. He glanced at the hours and found them probably ready to close. "Hey," he called out.

"Just... just a minute!" someone called from the back. After a moment a reedy man with large glasses stumbled out from behind some boxes. "I'm sorry sir, we're about to close..."

"Just answer me a few questions and I won't bother you again," Dante told him distantly. "Do any business with the Lowell company?"

"Huh?" the owner asked, raising his eyebrows. "Why yes, Patricia Lowell just recently made a large donation to my shop a week or so ago. I thought it was very generous of her..."

"Can I see what she gave you?"

"Tomorrow when we open again I'd be happy to – "

Dante cocked Ebony and licked the barrel. "I won't take up much of your time."

The man went pale. "Of... of course. This way."

He led Dante towards the back of the establishment and pointed to a few boxes. "There."

"Thanks." Dante started rifling through the clocks and jewelry and pottery when his cellphone went off, playing Elena Huston's "Mermaid Rock" quite loudly. _Goin' on and on I've got the future in my hands – _"What?" he answered, tossing a doll aside.

"Dante, it's been a while."

"... Trish."

"How you been?"

"Not a good time for chit chat, babe."

"Good, because you'll want to hear this."

"Make it quick."

"Patty has a seal on her."

Dante was quiet.

"A blood seal."

"Not good. Recognize it?"

"Unfortunately yes."

"Mundus."

"Yes."

There was a tense silence.

"Where are you?" Trish asked.

"Sniffing out more seals. Twelve if I recall, am I right?"

"Yes. How did you …?"

"Call it a hunch. Though Mundus has some guts to try and show his ugly face again around me. I thought it could be a deal with seals, though I must say, this is a curveball if I've seen one..."

"Patty is in danger."

"That's why Lady is with her. She's still _with_ her, right?"

"I'll say. Oh yeah, your tab at Laurel's Boutique went up."

"How did I guess?"

Trish laughed a little grimly. "He'll try and kill you again."

"And you."

"I know," was all she said.

"Meet me at the suite."

"Gotcha."

Dante hung up and pulled out a mirror about the size of his chest. "Here we go..."

"You have a good eye," the owner told him nervously. "That's a very valuable piece from the seventeenth century."

"I'll bet," Dante told him, pulling out a knife.

"Hey, what are you – ? WHOA!" the owner shrieked as Dante stabbed himself in the palm, bleeding profusely. "H-hold on, what are you doing?"

Dante ignored him and started to smear the blood over the mirror, looking carefully for any telltale signs. "Come on... I know it's here..."

"You just bought that, I hope you know that!"

"I'm afraid this is a faulty donation," Dante told him, then his bright eyes lit up. "There you are..."

A seal was starting to burn itself faintly in the lower right corner of the mirror.

"F-faulty? I have receipts – !"

"Relax. You got it for free, so no loss," Dante said as he rose, mirror under his arm.

"I'm calling the cops!"

"Don't care."

"I'm serious, mister!"

"So call the fuzz. It's not like my record is great anyway. See ya."

Dante speed dialed Morrison once he was out on the street, mirror in tow. "Did you call me to beg for more leads?" Morrison chuckled.

"So little faith... no, I need you to check in on the Lowell estate and see how many donations they've made in the past four months."

"Donations?"

"You deaf?"

"Nevermind, I've learned to stop questioning your logic. Alright, anything else?"

"You wouldn't want to alter some police records, would you?"

"What am I, Poindexter?"

"Forget I asked." Dante hung up, and once again... _Goin' on and on I've got the future – _"Yo."

"Get your ass over to the hotel!"

"Lady?"

Gunfire. "Patty is in danger!"

"On my way." Dante hung up and broke into a sprint with a grin. "Well, well, three for three. Can't wait to see where this goes..."


	4. Raise

Poker Face

Chapter Four

Raise

Patty crouched as Lady fired at the demon who reached out of the wall to crush her head. Her ears gave her a splitting agony at the sound of it, still stabbing with pain over Dante's guns rupturing her eardrum. She smelt ozone and heard a crack, lightning flashing overhead to finish the demon off. It was barely four seconds before it was replaced by three more.

"What's going on?" Patty demanded as anyone that was out on the street outside the hotel ran for their lives.

"What's it look like?" Lady snapped, pulling a massive missile launcher off of her bike and loading to fire. Trish covered her with her bullets wrapped in electricity. "Whoever wants to summon Mundus wants _you!"_ She fired it down the throat of another three armed, muscly and mucusy opponent, causing it's insides to explode outside.

"Stay down," Trish ordered, summoning another thunderbolt and frying another demon to a charry mess.

"You ladies have your hands full?" a voice asked calmly.

"You idiot, would you lend a hand already?" Lady demanded.

"You're doing it wrong," Dante chuckled, lifting his hands as if it were obvious.

"Make with the doing it right then, genius!"

"Sure." Dante lifted Patty up and put a gun to her head.

_"What are you doing?"_ she hissed.

"Dante, what the hell?" Lady snapped.

"Look," Trish said, pointing to the forces of the Underworld.

They were retreating.

"Wha...?" Patty breathed, nearly swooning from the intoxicating smell of Dante's coat and the strength of his hands. Flashbacks to the hot tub streaked across her memory and warmed her face, but after an eternal instant, the contact ended as Dante replaced the gun into it's hidden holster under his coat.

"They want her alive," Dante explained. "Looks like the seals need to be taken care of."

"You're going to need help with this one," Lady laughed.

"And get into deeper debt with you? No thank you."

"You can't stop Mundus by yourself," Trish said quietly. "Last time even you needed that extra boost of my power."

"I'm not hiring either one of you."

"We're partners on occasion, I don't see the problem," Trish reminded him with a wink.

"I suppose our interest runs in the same vein," Lady finally said begrudgingly. "This isn't free work, this is necessity after all..."

"I'm confused, just what exactly did you find out, Dante?" Patty asked.

"You've got a leech, Posh."

"I have no idea what that means."

"Come on, I'll explain in Patty's suite. There's a mini bar there, right?"

The women groaned as they followed him to the elevator, not looking forward to his "I told you so" explanation. It wouldn't have been so bad if he wasn't always so goddamn _right_. Lady looked as if she were ready to pout, Trish wouldn't make eye contact, and Patty concentrated on her feet, ashamed and thrilled at how aroused just a benign touch from Dante had made her.

Dante could only suppress a smug smirk for so long.

Patty let them into her suite and they sat around a large couch at a curve, then she went to make coffee for the Devil-Hunters to try and keep herself occupied as her mind reeled. Dante was already inspecting the minibar with curiosity.

"Are you going to explain in that smug tone of yours?" Lady finally asked.

"Gladly. You see, Mundus has placed a servant of his or something in this world to awaken twelve seals so he can have a shot at obliterating the earth again."

"We gathered that," Trish told him as he pulled out his cellphone.

"Morrison, what did you find out? … Eleven donations, right? … I thought so. Forward me the locations." He hung up and spiked his coffee with some vodka. "Somebody has been using Patty's name to make donations from her antique stash around the country."

"Why?" Patty asked. "And if this is identity theft, why are my bank accounts in perfect shape?"

"They don't want money," Dante told her. "They want to hide any seals they find from you. If you found out too soon, it would be easy work for you to go through your own inventory to sniff the seals out to destroy them. So they've been making small time donations in your name to scatter them, not in amounts noticeable to you."

"So what, we find the seals and destroy them?" Lady asked.

"Not if we want to keep Posh alive," Dante said, pointing to Patty's chest. With a blush, she buttoned her top button, forgetting that her breasts were practically hanging out in front of him.

"So what do we do?" Trish asked.

"Two things we can do," Dante said with a smirk. "But Posh won't like one of them."

"Try me," Patty snapped.

"Well we go on a wild goose chase for all these seals and I know a ritual that can deactivate them without destroying them," he explained. "Problem is we need them all in one place for that."

"That could take weeks of digging!" Patty complained.

"What's the other option?" Lady asked.

Dante only smirked again.

Trish smiled, covering her face with her hand to try and hide it. Then Lady realized what option two was and outright laughed out loud.

"I hate it when you guys know something I don't," Patty told them darkly. "What's the other way?"

Dante leaned in close over her so his lips were tickling her ear, making her want to shrink into herself with want. He whispered something in her ear and by sheer shock, received a slap across the face. "ABSOLUTELY NOT."

The Devil-Hunters all burst out laughing, even Dante, who rubbed his cheek in amusement.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh come on, you're practically drooling over him anyway!" Lady chuckled.

"That's preposterous – !"

"That's okay, one of us ladies could do it," Trish teased. "A woman knows what a woman wants anyway."

Patty could only stammer as she turned a bright red.

"What's the matter?" Dante asked. "Didn't I tell you I'd take you on a real date when you were all grown up?"

"Th-that's not..."

"Too funny," Lady jabbed.

"Well?"

Patty sort of jutted her chin a bit and then pulled out her cellphone. "Vidar? Yes, it's Patricia. I'd like a list of all the donations made from the company in the last four months. … Details please, addresses and names."

"Damn," Trish laughed.

Dante only smiled.

"You know if you suck it up and screw him, it's the easy way out," Lady told her. Patty ignored her, still burning in embarrassment.

"You could volunteer," Trish told her.

"I'm actually strait," Lady said with a smile.

"I'm not _screwing_ anybody!" Patty snapped, hanging up her phone. "Are you guys helping me find these seals or not?"

Dante sighed and took a strait shot of tequila. "That's another five thousand up front. But if you decide to take the easy way, no charge haha..."

"Shut up!"

"You're doing this for free, asshat," Lady told him.

"No I'm not."

"Then you'll take it out of what you owe me."

"Fine, fine. But like I said, this is going to be a wild goose chase."

"Then it'll be a wild goose chase," Patty said firmly.

Dante shrugged. "Pity. But if that's the way you want it, so be it. Let's rest up and begin our search tomorrow, yeah?"

"Dibs on the couch," Lady called, throwing her feet up.

"Chair," Trish seconded.

Dante grinned. "Hey Patty – "

"No."

The hunters laughed as Patty got up and locked herself in her room, flustered.

"You have no luck in women, Dante," Lady mocked.

"I'm too nice," Dante replied.

"Too nice to seduce the girl?" Trish demanded. "It wouldn't be that hard you know. I can smell her want from here."

"Don't think I haven't noticed."

"So what's the issue?"

Dante just stared out the floor to ceiling windows as the moon rose over the city. "I'm just too nice," he repeated.

Patty leaned her back against the door and let out air through her nose slowly, heart fluttering.

"Dante..."


	5. Call

Poker Face

Chapter Five

Call

"This is impossible," Lady sighed into the phone.

"Don't say that..."

"No, Dante, I'm serious. It's been a week and we've only been able to track down two of these seals, not counting the ones we already know about. We don't know what kind of time constraint we're under, and if they haven't been sold, they've been moved around to the point of obscurity. Trish can travel at will and hasn't had much better luck than I have."

"Then give up."

"Oh just rape her or something."

"No can do. If you can't do it, then just come back."

"I'm an hour away across the state line, idiot. I can't just bounce off the Underworld like our lightning happy friend."

"Whatever then, Lady. I don't know what you want me to tell you."

"Moron."

Lady hung up.

Dante closed his cellphone and sighed, running a hand through his wet platinum hair. Just having come out of the shower had left him in just his jeans, but Patty was too upset to admire his figure.

Patty looked grim. "This isn't working, is it?"

"Not exactly..."

Patty set down her tea and put her head in her hands. "There isn't any other choice, is there?"

"Look, I'm not going to defile you if you're so against it. It's no fun that way," Dante told her, throwing his feet up on the coffee table. "Why _are_ you so squeamish about sex anyway?"

"It's … it's for married people properly," Patty said sadly. "You might not think so, but I feel like my values are being compromised. I want it to be … out of love. I know that sounds fairytale and silly, but it's the way I feel."

"You don't think I could love you."

Patty snorted. "Not in the way I would want, and not long term. You are untamable, Dante. I could never ask you to settle down, least of all with someone like me."

"I could tell you to get over it because that's a childish way of thinking, but that would be rude, wouldn't it?"

"You're such an ass!"

"I know."

A knock came upon the door. "House keeping!"

"Come in!" Patty called, rising.

A maid came in with a cart full of cleaning supplies and began to throw pizza boxes and beer cans away that were on the counter. Dante eyed her suspiciously.

Patty put a hand to her forehead, clearly stressed. "Dante, I don't know what else to do!"

"You have your options. Fuck, go on a dating site or something, find someone nice."

"Oh yeah, that'll go over real well. 'Well-to-do business woman seeks man whose funny, sweet and respectful to have sex on a first date to prevent the apocalypse.' I'm sure you see my dilemma."

"Forget I suggested it, I'm just trying to help."

"I know. I know, I'm sorry for being so difficult," Patty sighed, leaning against the counter.

Dante was suddenly pointing Ivory at her, and a look of confusion crossed her face before she realized that he was aiming behind her. That split-second passed and she felt the cold steel of a knife against her back.

It was the cleaning lady.

"Thought I smelled devil," Dante told her coldly. "Let her go."

"No can do, Dante, son of Sparda," she hissed, her face warping into a demonic visage as she held Patty hostage, stiff with fear.

"She's useless to you dead."

"Only until I summon my master," the demon cackled. "You figured a lot out, as to be expected of you, but you missed a few things. It didn't matter where the seals were, so long as they were active. It was easy to place them in mortal hands and have their blood and lives be spent to activate them. You yourself activated four, just to be sure they were seals! How rich!"

"I call bullshit," Dante told it. "You would have killed her for the ritual by now if that was all you needed."

"You're right, there IS one thing missing," it leered. "A blood ritual, from a powerful demon... such as YOURSELF!"

Spikes shot out from the floor and impaled Dante, lifting him a clear foot up. He grunted, unphased by the injury, but his blood spilled in copious amounts onto the hardwood floor, lighting up a spell circle in red. The demon put a claw to Patty's chest and the seal on it burst out with more blood, causing her to collapse into the center of the circle with a cry of agony.

"Patty!" Dante flexed and the spikes shattered, and then riddled the demon servant with bullet holes.

"It's too late!" it cackled as it fell and began to smolder in its death. "Mundus will be here in a matter of minutes! It's too late! Tooooo laaaaaaaaaaate..." It crumbled to embering ash, but Dante was already at Patty's side, who was shaking in shock from blood loss.

"Dan...te..." she whispered. Patty went limp.


	6. Fold

Chapter Six

Fold

"Don't talk," Dante ordered as the arcane sigils began to flash white in a strobe like manner.

"Do it," Patty managed, drawing him close.

"What?"

"We can stop this..."

"You sure?"

"No … time..."

Dante ran a hand through her hair and kissed her gently, knowing she was right. It was now or never. His other hand ran up her leg and under her skirt as she trembled. Even desperate, the scent of him and his closeness, even covered in blood was terribly arousing, if not frightening. She could feel his hardness against her thigh as he pressed his body to hers. She was sure that the battle had turned him on to such a degree, but if Dante were honest, the thought of taking Patty not only amused him, but made him very hot with desire.

No words – it was too rushed. His rough hands were now hiking her skirt up and undoing his jeans. Those icy blues locked with her deeper sapphires, streaked with tears, fear and even anticipation.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her ear, and then he took her, driving his organ into hers.

Patty arched with a soundless cry and the circle burst into white light. Dante thrust deeper into her, squeezing a wanted whimper from her injured and quivering body. The sound of demons hoarding around them could be heard, so Dante rose to his knees, bringing Patty's hips with his, still locked in a thrusting that was picking up speed.

Ebony was in one hand, Patty's pelvis in the other. Gunfire punctuated every movement, which seemed to be in slow motion. Dante pulled out and pushed in deeper, eliciting a cry of elation from both of them, devils falling dead around them as he rained death while he thoroughly eliminated Patty's purity at the same time. She heard him laughing, like he couldn't help himself. It was all a blur of pleasure and noise and chaos.

"Dante...!" she huffed as he reached places inside of her unknowable to a virgin, bringing her to a height of climax. "Dante!"

"Patty...!"

"Dante-_Dante_-DANTE!"

Dante let out a half shout, half laugh as he came. He threw his head back and held Patty tight against him as a low demonic moan could be heard in rage as the spell circle lost its glow and died. Patty lay trembling on Dante's chest, quiet in the aftermath of sex and battle.

The door burst open. "Dante!" Trish cried. "The seals …!"

"It's alright," he said quietly, stroking Patty's hair. "It's over."

"Dante..."

"Call an ambulance. She won't last with this much blood loss..."

Patty embraced Dante as tight as her weak limbs would allow her.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you..."


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue

Ace Up My Sleeve

Patty opened her eyes groggily and wasn't too sure where she was at first.

"You finally up?"

She looked over to see a familiar face sitting in a chair next to her bed. He looked tired, but as warm as that cocky face could look.

"Dante..." she rasped. "Where...?"

"You're at the hospital. You've been out for a week. Two transfusions and a surgery to repair your heart and you've pulled through. I told you you were a trooper, Posh."

Patty smiled and cleared her throat. "You're amazing."

"Yeah, I'm told I'm a good lay..."

"If I could smack you..."

Dante laughed. "No, Patty. You made the call. You're amazing – you sacrificed your high ideals of morals in order to save the world. Something tells me this won't be the first time, so rest up so you can heal."

He rose to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"I have a few jobs lined up. I gotta pay bills you know..."

"I can pay you..."

"That wouldn't make me a manwhore, would it?" Patty lifted her hand to take a swipe at him but she was too weak. Dante only took her hand in his and kissed it. "You did the right thing, Patty. You're a good kid. Keep your money, alright?"

"Dante..."

"See ya."

Dante squeezed passed another person on his way out, and Lady walked in to take his place. "Well, I must say. _That_ was not how I thought it would go down, at the last second and all..."

"Lady... what really happened?"

"I didn't get there until after Trish called the ambulance. All I know is that the lazy bastard has been blowing off jobs all week in order to sit around by your bedside."

"He … didn't leave?"

"Not once. Strange one, isn't he?"

Patty was quiet for a few moments. "Where is he going?"

"I heard Morrison lined up a job for him in Europe. His flight leaves in an hour or so. Lucky you woke up, huh?"

"Lucky..." Patty repeated softly, looking down at the scar on her chest sadly.

"Cheer up, Posh. He'll be back."

"Don't you start."

Lady laughed. "Take care." She waved and left, and was replaced by a nurse wielding a blood pressure cuff and a vitals cart.

Patty supposed the Devil-Hunters were busy, as that was the last she saw of them while she was at the hospital. She was sort of glad, because she didn't think she could take the teasing as she stared at the product she'd bought for the third time two weeks later in shock.

Well, at least she knew she'd see Dante again sometime soon.

With a smile, she threw the positive pregnancy test in the trash.

She was looking forward to it, actually.

***END***


End file.
